Chapter 444: Bazaar Opportunities and the Silver Empire’s Plan

Market: Ultra-long-distance Spatial Gate Random Deployment Platform.

With a single thought from Song Chi, the configuration erupted in dazzling light, and soon a corresponding number of spatial vortexes appeared at the entrance to the Market.

A new round of trading at the Market was officially underway.

……

In the first few hours of this Market session, nothing caught Song Chi’s attention.

That is, until five hours had passed.

Free Stall Area.

“Come take a look, come see! Freshly dug Imperial Ruin Source Stones! Not 99, not 88! Just one strand of Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin for each! Fortune is knocking at your door! Fifty years in business, a Market veteran you can trust! Hurry, come over and have a look!”

The abrupt hawking drew a large crowd of exotic races in the Free Stall Area, each one gravitating toward the half-rat vendor’s stall.

And it wasn’t just the species of the Sea of Stars—Song Chi, the Market’s master, also found himself intrigued.

Imperial Ruin Source Stone—those four words still made a deep impression on him.

His very first strand of Seventh‑Tier Floating-land Origin came from here—not to mention the dominating blood essence his flagship, the Unmoving Vajra, devoured.

Now, hearing about the Imperial Ruin Source Stones again, Song Chi quietly drew upon Dominion Power, silently slipping into the innermost circle around the source stone stall.

His gaze swept over the half-rat stall owner. Decades had passed, and the vendor had ascended from Third Rank to Fourth Rank, his power surging dramatically.

Instead of dulling his interest in setting up a stall at the Market, this only made him more enthusiastic.

Only the vendor himself knew how much he’d earned in the market these fifty years. Had he only relied on his old capital, he would’ve had to wait much longer before daring to attempt his breakthrough to Fourth Rank.

Song Chi ignored the half-rat, instead focusing on the thousand-plus Imperial Ruin Source Stones piled on the stall. To any bystander, it looked casual—but that couldn’t be further from the truth. None noticed the faint shadow of Dual Pupils flashing in his eyes.

Third-Tier Floating-Land Origin? Pass.

Blue Oddity? Skip.

Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin? Also not interested.

……

With Dual Pupils fully activated, nothing inside these source stones could hide. Still, he didn’t make a move right away.

Not only did his standards surpass what was on offer, but he also had to leave the half-rat with some good finds. Otherwise, if every time he bought a stone nothing valuable turned up, suspicion would arise.

“Hmm?”

A soft exclamation slipped out. Song Chi’s scanning gaze froze for a second—he’d spotted something unusual inside one of the stones.

Is that… an Abyssal Devil?

Inside a large Imperial Ruin Source Stone, a living creature was sealed.

Judging by its appearance, Song Chi guessed it belonged to the Abyssal Devil race. From the law imprints, this one wasn’t weak—most likely a Sixth Rank.

But the real intrigue lay elsewhere. This was only its power prior to being sealed. Now, after untold millennia trapped within, its life force barely flickered—Song Chi could tell at a glance this devil had grown desperately weak.

Without hesitation, he bought that very source stone for 20 strands of Fourth-Tier Floating-Land Origin.

According to the half-rat stall owner, this stone was much larger than the others. If something valuable was inside, it would absolutely be worth the higher cost.

Song Chi said nothing else, paying out on the spot.

Abyssal Devils were among the top-ten overlord civilizations recorded by the Torch Human Civilization. Masters at manipulating minds and enslaving other species, they never fought alone—always surrounded by hordes of thralls. Few defenses could withstand their assaults.

Even the infamous Witcher Civilization, known for its enslaved armies, couldn’t outdo them in this regard.

These creatures were fiendishly difficult to control, but if subdued, could be an immense asset to any Torch Captain.

More importantly, this Sixth-Tier Abyssal Devil sealed inside the stone was critically weak, making it much easier to subdue. Song Chi had no intention of letting that opportunity slip by.

“Do you want to reveal the contents here and now?”

Song Chi shook his head, declining the on-the-spot opening. His eyes continued to sweep across the remaining source stones, while he mused to himself.

“An Abyssal Devil, huh? Does that mean the Floating-land behind this half-rat is connected to the Abyssal Devils? Was this an invasion, or just a fluke?”

With that thought, he scanned the rest of the Imperial Ruin Source Stones but found no additional treasures. After the one with the sealed Sixth-Tier devil, the most valuable only fetched 10 strands of Fifth-Tier Floating-Land Origin, which Song Chi left untouched.

……

“So what’s the answer—are you in, or not? Give a clear response today!”

Inside the Silver Home shop, Luke’s sharp voice rang out.

Besides him, a few more figures stood in the room.

North Sea Naga Deguen, Luofu Sword Sect’s Zhou Ping, a Fourth-Tier Night Elf, and the Fourth-Tier Treant, Eisen.

At Luke’s words, the other four exchanged glances, hesitation flickering in their eyes.

Finally, the Night Elf spoke up:

“You’re only at Third Rank right now—same with Zhou Ping, and Deguen’s only just reached Fourth Rank. Are you sure this team is enough to handle a Fifth-Tier Starflower?”

They’d been discussing a plan to deal with a Fifth-Tier starplant—Starflower.

Years ago, a Viscount’s field team stumbled upon it. Since then, Luke had repeatedly tried to recruit old Market hands to take it down, but for various reasons the attempt was delayed again and again.

“The Viscount’s House behind me will provide a Type-II War God Mech. With it, I can fight at Fourth Rank, no problem.”

Luke held firm, pressing his case:

“And come on, that’s a Fifth-Tier starplant! If we pull this off, we each get four Red Epic Oddities just from the Market’s reward. Isn’t that tempting? Big Tree, that Starflower’s core would be a huge boost for your Treant Family…”

Under Luke’s persuasion, Deguen and the others finally agreed.

Red Epic Oddities were a powerful lure for them—all at Third or Fourth Rank. With the Fifth-Tier Void Crystal hunt canceled, this was their last shot before the Market master stopped buying up Starflower cores.

“Settled, then. When can you all set aside some time? Let’s transfer via Divine Realm together.”

……

Outside in the free stall area, a smile crept across Song Chi’s face.

“It’s finally set—about time!”

Back when Luke first floated this idea three years ago, Song Chi was interested right away. But after hearing their back-and-forth, with opinions never quite coming together, he almost wanted to facepalm.

Originally, the goblin Luke had even invited him—well, his Blueblood persona—but with the all-out assault on Calamity Star Floating-land looming, and still feeling out the first Divine Realm transfer, he’d turned Luke down.

Now that the group’s deal was struck, Song Chi let out a long breath of relief.

All that’s left is to await their formal action. If they succeed, he’ll have collected all three Fifth-Tier Starplant Cores. If not, well, he won’t be the one in danger—not a bad deal at all.

As Song Chi mused, voices drifted from the Silver Home shop again.

“Half a month from now, then! Like you said, everyone’s free then. We’ll transfer together, and as soon as we reach the Empire, we’ll make straight for the Starflower’s location!”

“Sounds good!”

“No objections!”

With their partnership locked in, the rest of this Market session passed without incident.

After tallying up his gains, Song Chi quickly exited the Market.

He had things to arrange within his forces. With the group action set for half a month later, he needed to monitor their progress in real time. Besides testing the Divine Realm Task Platform, he was curious about Luke’s Silver Goblin Empire.

Honestly, just getting a look at their nearly-completed Goblin War God Mech would be worth it.

Compared to the Hellfire Mech’s ranged firepower and the Mara Phantom Mech’s agility, Goblin War God Mechs were clearly more balanced—packing both strong offense and solid close-combat skills. If he could get his hands on the full tech blueprints, demand would surely outpace either of the specialized models.

Time flew by, and half a month was gone in a flash.

On the appointed day, several figures appeared in the Divine Realm player trading space.

“Everyone’s here—let’s transfer!”

With a nod among themselves, the four stepped onto the Divine Realm Transfer Platform.

Since it was their first time teleporting, Deguen, Zhou Ping and the others were visibly tense.

By comparison, the Divine Realm points spent on the transfer didn’t amount to much.

After all, decades had passed. Everyone’s player level now far exceeded 40. With group transfer discounts, the Divine Realm point cost was trivial.

Meanwhile, over at the Omniverse Market—

Song Chi, his mind completely immersed in the Divine Realm Task Platform, noticed a flicker of surprise on his face.

He focused all his attention on the Divine Realm Transfer Platform in the player trade space. This transfer might not succeed.

Right now, the Task Platform was only Sixth Rank—far from omnipotent. There were limits: the Floating-land with the Silver Goblin Empire had to be within range. Though the Omniverse Market floated along the shadow side of the Void Sea, it wasn’t truly omnipresent. Realistically, it drifted mostly between the Torch Human and Eight-Armed Serpent Demon clusters.

In other words, if the goblin empire’s Floating-land was too far from the Torch human cluster, the Divine Realm transfer wouldn’t work.

If that happened, the prestige of the Omniverse Market would take a serious hit.

Thankfully, everything went smoothly. Bathed in golden light, the four were transferred straight to the Silver Goblin Empire.

At the same time, a new scene abruptly filled Song Chi’s mind.

It was the landscape of the Silver Goblin Empire.

As the Divine Realm Task Platform’s master, Song Chi had absolute control over the golden artifact. Seeing through the eyes of the players he’d transferred was a basic feature.

Silver Goblin Empire, Skyhawk Province.

As the province where Viscount Thor’s estate lay, the place had boomed over the years—thanks to Terranite flowing in, Skyhawk Province grew more prosperous by the day.